Meghalaya has registered over 2,566 cases under the protection of children from sexual offences (POCSO) Act 2012 till the end of 2023. Of these, a total of 1984 cases are still pending in the various district Courts. The disposal rate of cases in the state is 22.68%.
This was revealed in the Preliminary Report on the POCSO Cases in the Courts of Meghalaya prepared by the Meghalaya State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR) released on Thursday.
The report said when it comes to convictions of cases, it may be pertinent to point out that Ri Bhoi District has the distinction of having the highest number of convictions at 50 followed by West Khasi Hills at 31 convictions and closely followed by East Khasi Hills at 30 such convictions.
Even though South Garo Hills and South West Garo Hills have 0 (zero) number of convictions, this may be partly due to the fact that there is no Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) appointed in South Garo Hills to try the cases and hence all cases in the district are pending before the Court in this district.
South West Garo Hills district on the other hand has POCSO Court established in 2017 and has not had a single conviction.
In the matter of disposal of cases which result in acquittals, the report said that the highest number of acquittals among the various district POCSO Courts is East Khasi Hills District with a total of 48 acquittals.
The lowest number of acquittals are shared by both North Garo Hills and South West Garo Hills at 3 Acquittal each.
The distinction is made here, that even though South Garo hills has 0 (zero) acquittals , this is primarily due to the fact that POCSO Cases in the district are pending due to a no SPP in place.
“When we look at the number of Acquittals on an annual basis, we find that the highest number of acquittals in the State was in the year 2022 with a total number of 62 acquittals,” the report said.
In regards to the pendency of cases, East Khasi Hills has the highest number of pending POCSO cases in the State at 566 cases pending in the POCSO Court of the District. The lowest number of pending cases in the State is East Garo Hills with a total number of 36 cases pending in their POCSO Court.
Meanwhile, the Commission has recommended that awareness should intensify and multi strategy approach should develop with more stake holders involvement. Strategy should involve print and electronic media.
It said there should be more awareness in communities and schools, more Sensitization and training programs for law enforcement personnel, lawyers/ prosecutors and legal aid, support persons, other justice delivery functionaries besides sensitizing and awareness in Government departments, corporate and other non governmental establishments.
Asserting the need for structured training and orientation for caregivers of various categories and levels, the commission said, “Follow up sessions and counseling of families of survivors. Often the victims are shamed and discriminated by their family and closest relatives. Cases have occurred where a child suffers discrimination (name-calling) that the only recourse is promiscuity and self-harm.”
It also recommended the need to prioritize POCSO cases to speed up the process of trial and ensure Justice is assured for the survivor and ensuring availability of support persons in time.
“With increasing social alienation, kinship disassociation, mental health issues and increasing societal dysfunctions fueled by social media noise, pornographic content and greed for ‘easy money’ cases of crimes against children, particularly child sexual abuse may likely increase,” it said while adding “What is essential in Meghalaya is a commitment for serious empirical research and reliable data base or data resource centre where all stakeholders can pool data and information and have equal access to the same.”
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